16 Apr 2017

Daniel Sturridge vs. Divock Origi: One of Liverpool's two strikers will start today's game, but who will get the nod from Jurgen Klopp?

Sturridge looked sharp against Stoke last week, but Origi has four goals/assists in his last six games, and during the official LFC Preview Show this week (on LFC TV) ex-Red Mark Wright insisted:

"Daniel is a great striker, but I'd play Origi because he'll run the channel more, and close people down more. Plus, he’s taller, has more pace, is and more dominant".

West Brom are a tough, physical side, and in that regard, Origi is perhaps better suited for this particular game, with Sturridge a great option off the bench is things aren't going according to plan.

Wright also urged Klopp to make a big defensive change for today's game:

"Sometimes you can get away with zonal marking, but when you're playing against a side that has scored the most goals from set plays this season, then you have to man mark".

Amen. Liverpool have conceded 18 goals from set-pieces this season (the most in the Premier League), and West Brom have scored the most from set-pieces, so there's an unholy duality there that could lead to LFC's downfall today.

Liverpool were top of the set-piece charts last season, too, which shows that Klopp hasn't bothered to fix this issue. The obvious culprit is the infernal practice of zonal marking, and it's a mystery why Klopp continues to utilise this obviously failing strategy.

With few exceptions, zonal marking doesn't work! Anyone with even rudimentary tactical knowledge knows how to defeat it, and Liverpool's fallibility in this area continually gifts the opposition cheap goals.

Klopp knows exactly how West Brom play, so if Liverpool concede cheap goals from set-pieces today (due to zonal marking), then Klopp will have to take the blame for failing to adapt his team to a very obvious and foreseeable threat.

* €31m-rated (CIES Football Observatory). Described as 'exceptional' by Owen Hargreaves.